Beauty
by rei-jikitsune21
Summary: A lighter version of It's Hard to Say "I Love You". Ryou has a crush on Yuugi but is too afraid to approach him. One day he decides to confess to Yuugi! Will he succeed? Or is he better off dreaming about the two of them in his head? Read to find out! Heartshipping, Yuugi x Ryou.


**A/N: **I decided to a "light" version of It's Hard to Say "I Love You" for those who would prefer something without my other story's darker bits :D It's shorter but nonetheless I hope you enjoy it :3

Oh! And I based it off of a song with the same title by Dru Hill. If you want, listen to it while you're reading this! 8D

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!

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**Beauty**

"_If I profane with my unworthiest hand_

_This holy shrine, the gentle fine is this:_

_My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand_

_To smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss…." _ Ryou read softly, his face buried in his grandfather's tattered copy of _Romeo and Juliet_.

The school day had ended finally and Ryou had just gotten off of cleaning duty. He was taking his time walking down the hallway, the book in front of his face obscuring his view of his surroundings. Ryou was so focused on the words in the book that he bumped right against another body.

Immediately, Ryou looked up and bowed, stuttering bashfully, "S-sorry, I d-didn't notice you there—I mean-I wasn't paying any attention a-and…s-sorry."

A light chuckle made Ryou looked up and a small gasp escaped his lips. Yuugi Mutou was standing in front of him, looking extremely adorable with that small smile on his lips. Yuugi Mutou was standing in front of him.

_Oh_…Ryou began to feel lightheaded. He had just bumped into _him_; his arm had brushed against _Yuugi's!_

"It's alright, Ryou," Yuugi said kindly.

Ryou began to open his mouth until another voice, louder, cut in. "Yug'! C'mon! Let's go grab a bite to eat before we go to the arcade!"

Both teens looked down the hall to see Jounouchi and Honda waving at Yuugi impatiently. The spiky-haired teen waved back, assuring them he was coming, before looking back at Ryou.

"Sorry, about that," said Yuugi, smiling. "Um, were you going to say something?"

Ryou blinked a few times.

"Oh! Uh, n-no I wasn't." He bowed again. "Have a good day, Yuugi."

Embarrassed, Ryou quickly turned away and passed by Yuugi and then his friends, too afraid to look back.

。・°°・(＞_＜)・°°・。(o^^o) 。・°°・(＞_＜)・°°・。

Back at his house, Ryou found it hard to concentrate on the star-crossed lovers in his book. Every few seconds his thoughts returned to the tri-colored teen and he couldn't help comparing himself and his situation to Romeo's and Juliet's. Despite of the walls that did everything it could to hold them back they fearlessly declared their love for the other and went to great lengths to keep their love.

In contrast, when it came to Yuugi, Ryou could readily admit that he was a coward. He rarely spoke to Yuugi outside of school, and even when he was in school, he rarely initiated a conversation with the male. In order to justify his lack of action, Ryou would make excuses like how the two of them were in different classes so he didn't have many opportunities to see him, let alone speak or that Yuugi had friends that required a lot of his time and since he and Yuugi weren't really friends there was not much he could do. Of course they were nothing more than just that: excuses. Despite that Ryou knew he was too shy to do something about it. They were merely acquaintances after all; only speaking good-naturedly to each other when they walked pass the other in the hallways or in the school yard.

_Why can't things work like the books or movies, _Ryou thought miserably, closing his book and setting it to the side.

Really, if it was the movies, he wouldn't pass up the chance to finally ask Yuugi out like he did today. Somehow, he'd muster the courage to walk up to Yuugi, his back straight and his shoulders squared. Yuugi would probably be surprised; some song in the background would be playing—maybe Utada Hikaru's "Let's Be Happy" or DECO*27's "Berii Buruu"—as Yuugi accepted him. In his movie, the worst that could happen, yet wouldn't, was rejection to his declaration of love. Of course, Ryou hoped it would never come to that should he ever do it in real life.

More than anything he wanted to be with Yuugi. Beautiful and kind Yuugi, who was always nice enough to give him a hand when he least expected it. Because of his personality, it was only a matter of time before some other girl, or guy for that matter, asked the petit male out. The thought alone depressed him and Ryou released a sigh. If somebody had gotten to Yuugi before Ryou could, he would be devastated.

Without warning, Ryou sat up in his bed. "Alright!" he said determinedly. "I'll have to do something about it!" The next time he saw Yuugi again, he wasn't going to let his chance get away from him.

He just hoped it would end in his favor.

。・°°・(＞_＜)・°°・。(o^^o) 。・°°・(＞_＜)・°°・。

Ryou shuffled from feet to feet uncomfortably. He was in the area that kept students' outside shoes in their lockers, his own school shoes replaced with his sneakers. Every couple of minutes, the white-haired teen would look around him and check his watch as he waited to see Yuugi.

In hindsight, Ryou realized that he didn't think too far ahead when he decided to ask Yuugi out. In fact, Ryou definitely didn't think that there was a possibility of Yuugi having cleaning duty or leaving before his class did. And what's _more,_ he didn't even think just how he was going to _ask_ Yuugi out. This worried him to the point that his nerves were starting to go haywire; he couldn't just very well ask "Would you go out with me?" as soon as he saw him so, for the last few minutes, he stood there, frantically trying to recall how those teenage girls asked a boy out in the books and dramas he enjoyed. Unfortunately, his brain was refusing to cooperate with him.

_Ah, what was I thinking, _Ryou thought, rubbing his temples. He should've known this would happen. Maybe he should go ahead and go home while he had the chance. He needed to actually _think_ on how he wanted to do things before running straight away.

Nodding mentally in his head, Ryou turned on his heel and headed for the doors.

"Ryou?"

Said teen nearly jumped out of his skin when he felt a light grip on his arm and his name being called.

Quickly, Ryou turned around to see Yuugi flinch and draw his hand back embarrassedly. Ryou could also feel himself begin to blush. This had turned out so much better in his head.

"Um…" Yuugi started, shifting around nervously, "what are you doing here?"

_Huh?_ thought Ryou. _Oh, my Ra! OhmyRaohmyRA!_

Maybe, just maybe, he wasn't jumping to conclusions because he was pretty sure Yuugi was _this _close to asking him out. He couldn't believe his eyes and ears; it was as if his dreams had finally come to life.

Unbearably happy to the point he felt as if he could burst, Ryou immediately grabbed Yuugi's hands and held them tightly in his. "I love you too!" he confessed without a second's thought.

The chain reaction those words caused was immediate: Yuugi's face went from a rose tint to the vivid color of a tomato. His eyes grew to the size of saucers and his jaw practically dropped to the floor. And Ryou suddenly realized that he hadn't just jumped but had _leaped _to conclusions.

If this wasn't awkward he didn't know what was.

Ryou was as good as frozen in place. His mind was in so many directions it was gradually shutting down on him. He didn't know if he should run like no tomorrow or try to salvage what little of his dignity he could.

"Um…"

Ryou's thought of dread was disrupted by Yuugi's soft voice. It dawned on him that he was still holding Yuugi's hands. Tightly. Ryou could very well have died right then and there but somehow his hands, bit by bit, released Yuugi's own and fell to his sides.

Yuugi laughed nervously; apparently unaware of Ryou's inner turmoil. The simple sound had awoken something in the white-haired teen. He suddenly felt like crying. Here he was, standing before the one he wanted most yet Yuugi seemed even further from his reach than yesterday. He had his chance yet he managed to blow it away effortlessly. It was foolish of him to think he could turn his dreams into reality.

Bowing down deeply, Ryou sincerely apologized. "That was thoughtless of me; please forget I said anything." He could feel his eyes begin to water; he was starting to feel sick.

This was possibly the worst day of his life. There was nothing he could do about it though. Ryou turned around but once again, Yuugi's hand stopped him.

"W-wait!" Yuugi stammered out. "I'm sorry you just caught me by surprised!"

Ryou turned around to look at him, doing his best not to cry nor get his hopes up. Didn't he just learned his lesson?

"Please, don't go. I like you, too."

Now it was Ryou's turn to look at the other in disbelief. "What?"

Yuugi smiled sheepishly. "I'd wanted to ask you out for a while now but…you didn't seem approachable and every time we were together you'd find some way to leave as quickly as you could. I thought you might not like me. Regardless, I ended up having a crush on you anyway. Not only that but you beat me to confessing, haha!"

"I…I was afraid," confessed Ryou lamely. "I thought I would say something stupid or gave myself away if I'd stay near you for too long. I don't know what's wrong with me but whenever I'm near you I get extremely happy. I didn't want to appear weird to you, that's all!"

"That's funny because I feel the same way! But whenever I'm around you I keep trying to act cool so that you'd like me more. I guess I'm pretty bad at that, huh?"

Both of them laughed before beaming at the other.

Ryou wiped away the wetness in his eyes, he felt like dancing for joy. It was a miracle that Yuugi felt the same for him. He wanted to hug Yuugi so much but there has been enough recklessness for him today. Now that his reality was so much sweeter that he can work on spending every single second of it with Yuugi.

Standing beside his newly obtained boyfriend, Ryou asked hopefully, "Then…do you want to go watch a movie with me?"

Yuugi's face immediately brighten. "Yeah!"

With their day decided, the two teens left the school side by side, talking away happily as they discussed their movie choices.

"What kind of movie do you have in mind?"

"A romance movie, of course!"

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**A/N: **Please review! :D


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